Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe: A Novel with Recipes
    Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe: A Novel with Recipes
    Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe: A Novel with Recipes
    Audiobook12 hours

    Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe: A Novel with Recipes

    Written by Jenny Colgan

    Narrated by Michelle Ford

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Issy Randall can bake. No, Issy can create stunning, mouthwateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe's bakery, she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. She's much better at baking than she is at filing, so when she's laid off from her desk job, Issy decides to open her own little cafe. But she soon learns that her piece-of-cake plan will take all of her courage and confectionary talent to avert disaster.

    Funny and sharp, Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe is about how life might not always taste like you expect, but there's always room for dessert!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 18, 2013
    ISBN9781452687414
    Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe: A Novel with Recipes
    Author

    Jenny Colgan

    Jenny Colgan is Scottish born and bred, born in Ayrshire in 1972. After graduating from Edinburgh University, Jenny worked for six years in the health service whist moonlighting as a cartoonist and doing stand-up in the outer fringes of London’s comedy circuit.

    More audiobooks from Jenny Colgan

    Related to Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe

    Titles in the series (2)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Contemporary Women's For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Cooking THE BOOKS

      Sep 5, 2021

      I decided to take up baking, though I wish I hadn’t because it turns out I’m pretty useless at it. Which is surprising, given that I come from a line of great bakers – my mother and my grandmother for two. But I’m wondering, if I’m allowed to wonder

      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘Flour is IN MY BLOOD’

      Jun 1, 2022

      ‘Flour is IN MY BLOOD’
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Reluctant Cook

      Oct 29, 2018

      PHOTOGRAPH MICKY HOYLE/BUREAUX TEXT GEORGIA BLACK I have a schizophrenic relationship with food. I care about, think about, write about and work with it a lot. I’ve edited a cookbook, I subscribe to multiple food magazines, and, thanks to my mother

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Cup Of Tea With... SIMON HOLST

      Feb 14, 2021

      Cookbook author Simon Holst, 54, became a household name after publishing more than 40 family-friendly cookbooks with his mum Dame Alison Holst, as well as another nine of his own. The father of two is now a senior advisor for New Zealand Food Safety

      3 min read

    • Article

      My Lockdown Kitchen Rules

      Jun 5, 2020

      Panic-buying. I used to associate it with Boxing Day and Black Friday, but now it has a whole new meaning. Pre-lockdown, Twitter was awash with brawls over loo paper and mile-long queues of antagonistic individuals clinging to trolleys mushrooming wi

      2 min read

    • Article

      Crumbs Of Comfort

      Oct 30, 2023

      On Sunday, I baked bread. I love making bread. It makes you feel like a better person. A virtuous person. You are making bread and this must somehow be a good thing to do. Kneading dough makes you a contented person. You can’t worry about anything wh

      3 min read

    • Article

      Go, Mummy!

      Oct 29, 2020

      Go, Mummy!
      6 min read

    • Article

      Trouble in The Tub

      Apr 22, 2021

      Trouble in The Tub
      4 min read

    • Article

      One Pot Dinners

      Mar 4, 2021

      One Pot Dinners
      6 min read

    • Article

      Big Zuu: How I Went From Working At Nando’s To Cooking For Comedian Jimmy Carr

      Jun 9, 2021

      Cooking since childhood, self-taught cook and London grime artist Big Zuu believes in straightforward recipes with maximum flavour. Although his only professional cooking experience is working behind the grill at Nando’s, his no-fuss style, West Afri

      4 min read

    • Article

      All In The Family

      Nov 27, 2020

      All In The Family
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Plating Game

      Oct 5, 2021

      The Plating Game
      14 min read

    • Article

      Heidi Franz

      Jun 12, 2020

      Confession time: I’m now yet another person who has inherited a sourdough starter, and named it. Before you judge me for jumping on the sourdough bandwagon, know that it did show up at my front door without me requesting it. The bandwagon was forced

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Measure of Her Power

      Oct 12, 2021

      The Measure of Her Power
      8 min read

    • Article

      Syabira Yusoff: ‘Bake Off Really Helped My Self-confidence’

      Mar 18, 2023

      Before The Great British Bake Off, I never thought to bake a cake in four hours or do something that elaborate. It’s so surprising how the stress and desperation pushes you. I’d call it a human instinct to survive: no matter what I do, I have to serv

      3 min read

    • Article

      Jars Of Gold

      Jul 3, 2020

      Jars Of Gold
      2 min read

    • Article

      Kitchen Wisdom

      Apr 25, 2021

      Kitchen Wisdom
      6 min read

    • Article

      Spider’s Corner

      Sep 1, 2022

      Spider’s Corner
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe

    4/5

    56 ratings23 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      MEET ME AT THE CUPCAKE CAFE was a fun book to read. The main character, Issy, was delightful and quirky, and I was rooting for her every step of the way. After getting laid off from her clerical job at a real estate office, she decides to follow her dream of running her own bakery, just like her beloved grandpa did while she was growing up. This is a huge life change for Issy, and the road to success is rocky with many hard lessons to learn along the way.Issy was an endearing and kindhearted character, and it was amazing how she was able to create friendships among unlikely people. Of course, people weren't always doing things in her best interest, and I had to shake my head a few times. Luckily, she had a strong group of friends who loved and supported her, and weren't afraid to tell it like it is.Mixed into this sweet story is a little romance, a lot of laughs, a few tears, and cupcakes! Several recipes are included, and they all sound delicious. MEET ME AT THE CUPCAKE CAFE was such a cute book, and if you like chick lit, you shouldn't pass this one up.Source: Review copy from NetGalley.
    • 4/5
      This is difficult because I loved this book for something like 3 & 3/4's of it but the last few chapters just kinda...not ruined, but brought down my enjoyment of it a little.

      There's a lot about the book that is great - the characters are all fun and likeable, the situation is realistic, you find yourself rooting for Issy as she struggles to start her business and cheering when she's successful and she makes stupid mistakes (I was almost screaming at her at times for being an idiot) and she's a little bit whiny and pathetic at times but just enough to make her realistic so you roll your eyes at her instead of making you want to strangle her which is a rarity for me in the genre. Plus the cafe sounds adorable - I am close to scouring the internet to find a small bakery like that near here to try it out.

      The only problem I had with it was the last few chapters which I won't spoil, but everything wrapped up a little too neatly and it annoyed me that her ex-boyfriend became such a stereotypical jackass. Also, the last page was ridiculous I like a happily ever after as much as the next person but you've slogged your guts out to build a successful business and you decide, on a whim, to give it up to go live abroad with your boyfriend who you have only been dating a short time? I loved Austin, truly he was adorable, but seriously - the idea of her giving up her cafe, her dream like that is ridiculous. She literally learned nothing in the book at all.

      I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been a series - maybe 2/3 books with this book establishing the cafe, the second book expanding and the third relating to the thing I put in the spoiler tag above but as it was it all happening in the one book made it feel very rushed.

      It's a small quibble though and I'm perhaps being harsher than the book deserves with pointing it out because I did really enjoy it and any chick-lit book that has such a good storyline and relateable characters has to be worth reading which is why I would hope that if you're a fan of the genre that you would check it out. It is about the best in the genre that I've read recently.
    • 3/5
      Cute and fun is the word. But then I do adore British chic-lit. It made me want to drink tea and well eat cupcakes. Oh the cupcakes and recipes in this book made me drool. I would love do try them but they would be nowhere near as good.

      So it's about Izzy who has a boring job and secretly dates the boss (who does not treat her right.) But the book is about a cupcake cafe so we know that she at one point will move on to better things and find her true calling. And I love that she went for it and the friends and more she found along the way.

      There is a bit of romance (I will not say more). New friendships, bit of drama, and yes just about finding yourself. Sometimes you just have to start over and build a new life.

      A sweet book that will make you want cupcakes.
    • 3/5
      A light, entertaining read, perfect for the holidays.
    • 4/5
      Light and frothy, perfect for the summer or a head-cold (which is what I've been suffering from). Who else gets a head-cold in the middle of summer??In any case, this was a fun novel, and it included a slew of really great sounding recipes! The novel is set in London, where a thirty-year-old women has realized what we all realize at one point. We're getting older and unhappy with our safe course. Issy has a boyfriend she likes, but who doesn't like her. She has an ok job, but it doesn't make her happy. Her mother is distant, her grandfather is sick, and her friends are all settling down. When she gets laid off in a crap economy with no job prospects, she takes a crazy chance and follows her passion - making cupcakes!Opening a cupcake cafe may seem a little nuts, and maybe it is, but she's so sweet and passionate for baking that you cannot help but be swept up and want her to win. Naturally, there are a few bumps along the road. Should she go back to the jerk boyfriend or give a new guy a chance? How will she run this cafe without her grandpa's guidance? Can she settle into the community?Issy is a sweet character. She's so innocent, even though, at times, you wish she should could see the true character of her jerk boyfriend. On the other hand, I think most young women have had a relationship like this at some point, so it's not that terrible a flaw. The supporting cast adds a great comedic element, and I liked that none of the characters felt too...typical. They were quirky and adorable!
    • 4/5
      This is a sweet novel (in every sense) about Issy, a baker's granddaughter who sets out to find her niche in life when she's made redundant from her job and ditched by her boyfriend-slash-boss. As you may have guessed from the title, she takes the plunge and uses her family-bred talent to open a Cupcake Cafe in a quaint little corner of London. Along the way she befriends a ragtag bunch of feisty women and local eccentrics, fights back against the people who want her to fail, falls for distracted business bank geek Austin, and makes her ailing grandfather very, very proud... It's a lovely book, beautifully designed, with a gorgeous cover, a healthy smattering of delicious-sounding cupcake recipes, and a few other little baking-related extras - highly recommended for chick lit fans, food lovers and any woman looking for a smart, uplifting and rather yummy summer read.Favourite part: Issy's birthday party. The description of pretty little Pear Tree Court, the tree strewn with fairy lights, the square filled with friends old and new, music, romance, cupcakes and wine, reminded me a tiny bit of Armand's birthday in Chocolat. Lovely.Least favourite part: It all seemed a little too smooth at times. Speaking as a business owner, I find it hard to believe that within months of opening a cafe, in a recession, Issy would not only have enough money to hire two full-time members of staff, but also have money to throw about for events AND be considering expanding within the year? Maybe in London, I guess...
    • 4/5
      There's a cupcafe cafe in my village, I always make effort to buy bread there rather than the big chains; I've dealt with ruthless property agents; I know people who've set up on their own. So the premise for Jenny Colgan's novel is very real to me. Weaving a little romance and family history into it makes this an enjoyable read. Nice style of writing that flows as if you're having a nice conversation with your friends.
    • 4/5
      This book fills a very particular niche. It is a gentle chick lit book. Nothing too awful happens - there is no terminal illness or horrible accident. It is a book about relationships - good and bad. There is the sweet (literally) setting of the cupcake shop which serves as a lovely backdrop. There are some moments when I felt like things were a bit contrived - but generally just a very nice book. There are sometimes I really crave books like this and I am going to keep Jenny Colgan's name in my back pocket for when I would like a quiet read.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! It's the story of Issy Randall, who is made redundant from her city job. She's a fantastic baker, just like her grandfather before her, who is her inspiration, and so she decides to open a cupcake cafe with her redundancy money.This is such a lovely book. It fits in with all those dreams we all have of opening our own little business, and I was rooting for Issy all along to succeed, to dump her useless, preening boyfriend and get on with making her life what she wanted it to be.A lot of the chapters had some really lovely sounding recipes at the beginning and I'm going to try some of them for myself. I thought this book was well-written with some frivolities, and some serious parts. I raced through it and enjoyed every minute I spent reading it. I understand there will be a sequel at Christmas and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Fantastic!
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this. Issy Randall has always been a baker, her grandfather was a baker and he passed on the love for this to her, but she works in a safe City job. When she's made redundant she's at a loss what to do until it occurs to her to try for a cafe. She's also dealing with the fact that her grandfather has dementia and he's trying to supply her with recipes. The recipes are well written and entertaining, the story is fun and I enjoyed the characters and it made me smile throughout.
    • 4/5
      I found this a charming little chick-fic novel - or maybe it was the British narrator who made it so charming. Either way, the story of a girl who takes a chance and is successful and ends up with a nice guy has to be great escapism.
    • 3/5
      You probably know this story. A young woman loses her job and decides to try what she does best and open a cupcake cafe. You know there will be a Bad Boy and an almost unseen Love Interest. You know this poor woman is going to struggle to run the cafe. But you know that Good will triumph and that this woman is going to find Love and Happiness at her cafe and that’s why you will read it this summer and love it, despite its predictability. You will, I assure you. You will love it.
    • 4/5
      “Life was always easier, reflected Issy, when you were carrying a large Tupperware full of cakes. Everyone was happy to see you then.”Dumped, made redundant, and caring for a grandfather slowly being swallowed by dementia, poor Issy resorts to her usual comfort food – cupcakes. She uses her redundancy payment in a move of desperation to lease a down-on-its-luck building and slowly starts to get a cafe going. Will she manage to make a go of it, or will a dastardly ex-boyfriend burn her dreams?This is a sweet coming-of-age, or rather emotional maturity, story. In a sense, character development is predictable (one arch-nemesis becomes a friend, another provides the conflict throughout). Romantic entanglement equally predictable but cute. Issy really does mature organically and while having both a helpful bank manager and colleague appear as if by magic is a little too helpful, the rest is credible.Colgan captures the neighbourhood of Stoke Newington (“Stokey”) well, she clearly knows and loves the area and is keen to see it flourish while protected from property developers (as are Issy and Austin in the story).The best part of this is that it is interspersed with excellent recipes, written in a light tone, matched to life events for the damsel in distress. I really want to try some of these (which is how I felt about other recipes-in-novel books like The Love Verb and Miss Julia)Definitely recommended for a light read with imaginary cake.
    • 5/5
      I love Jenny Colgan novels. I will read anything she writes. This book was a fun read about starting over after huge life changes (losing your job and boyfriend).
    • 4/5
      Clever, well iintertwined and a great story. The recipes scattered through were a bonus (and a reason to keep the book not hand it on). I have tried one recipe already and loved the results (as did my husband).

      The story is a nice wander through "what could have been" if we did follow the dreams of our youth. I thought the romance element was almost irrelevant to the going into business storyline.

      Liked the characters, loved the setting. Well crafted and totally recommend
    • 3/5
      Oh this was a nice piece of nonsense to pass the time at the airport/flight/first night of holiday. Typical piece of fluffy, chicklit with the added bonus of some cake recipes. Not really worth saying much more than that. Left it at the first hotel without a backward glance. Very unlikely to read another of her offerings, but certainly not the worst of that ilk.
    • 4/5
      This was a sweet little chik-lit book with the extra bonus of lots of recipes thrown in. Issy has lost her job and her boyfriend and is struggling to decide what to do with her life. Her beloved grandfather who had raised her had been a baker and had taught her to bake at a young age. So so decides to open a small cafe that specializes in cupcakes and other sweet deserts. The book follows her struggles to make a success of her new business and to find a new love. Is she successful in either endeavor? You'll have to read the book to find out! Its a sweet little read, not too deep but a lot fun to read.
    • 4/5
      Held my interest from the getgo!! Really good page turner that keeps you going until the end.
    • 5/5
      Jenny Colgan virgin so i picked this up expecting it to be a bit wishy washy. Wow was i wrong.This book not only shares the trials of family life, lovers, friendships. It also gives you amazing baking reciepes at the start of every chapter. I am now a Jenny Colgan fan. Please read this book if you are not on a diet because it makes your mouth water.
    • 2/5
      Sweet but predictable. Lissy is made redundant from her unfulfilling job and on a whim opens a cupcake cafe. Cue the bringing together of unlikely friends, the end of an unsuitable relationship and a few bumps in the road, before the obligatory happy ending. Ok, but nothing special.
    • 5/5
      This my first book by Jenny Colgan ....I loved it. It tugged on all the emotions and left me feeling very satisfied. I’m excited to read another by this wonderful author.
    • 5/5
      To Issy Randall baking was in her genes; it was in her blood. Growing up in Grandpa Joe's Bakery helped. Issy would sit beside Grandpa Joe as he baked his bread and iced each bun with the utmost dedication. "Bread is the Staff of Life!" he'd often say to Issy. Fast forward twenty odd years or so when Issy is thirty-one; she now lives with her roommate Helena, a nurse in London. She often visits Grandpa Joe in the Nursing home and he promised to write down all his recipes for Issy. Issy loved to bake cupcakes; she would turn up at work with a Tupperware box full of cupcakes much to her colleagues delight. In a word, Issy Randall can create stunning, mouth-watering cupcakes that are lighter than air...she doesn't even measure her ingredients but waltzes around the kitchen, throwing ingredients into her bowl and whizzing it with her electric mixer. After being made redundant from her office job at Stoke Newington Municipal office and dismissed by her boss and lover, Graeme, Issy became depressed. Encouraged by her roommate Helena, Issy decided to open up her very own Cupcake Cafe. " How hard could it be?" she thought to herself. Opening her own Cupcake Cafe would show that no good lover of hers a thing or two about her determination and skills. She found a nice little shop on Pear Tree Court that was on sale which she made an investment on with her redundancy money from her admin job, and turned it into the business of her dreams. Nothing could be easier than opening your own cafe, right? What's there to do but bung some cake in the oven, feed a few customers and reap the profits? Wrong. Issy didn't count on the gazillion forms and applications she had to fill and then there were the builders to contend with the bank managers, the auditors and the cantankerous old snobbish ladies from the cooperative who confronted Issy about her baking junk and stealing their customers; but Issy Randall was determined and she met each obstacle head on! The Cupcake Cafe opened for business and thanks to Pearl, a recently unemployed single mother whom Issy met at the Resettlement courses meeting held on Oxford Street, London, Issy and Pearl turned the Cafe into a warm and cosy little place to sit, enjoy a sweet morsel , a good cup of coffee and chat away whilst watching the world go by. But Issy didn't know what was behind the corner threatening to shut up Shoppe. I fell in love with the book from the start and couldn't put it down. I, too, identified with Issy, being a home baker myself. I envisioned the role of Issy being portrayed by Anne Hathaway should it ever become a movie. The author throws in many delightful recipes throughout the book and delights her audience with tiny morsels of information of baking. The characters are very true to life and the reader can identify with them. I fell in love with Grandpa Joe and cried my eyes out when he passed away! Another character that is strange but endearing is the Ironmonger who strangely creeps behind the shadows under certain scenes. He is a dark but very real and human character which the author slowly reveals to the audience towards the end. Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe is the type of book a person can read many times in their lives and never get bored with it. It is a light and pleasant read. Like a decadent chocolate cupcake, this Novel will tantalize anyone's taste buds. The author does have the habit of overextending her fondness of the word 'had' throughout the book which I found annoying; other than this, I should say, this is a tastefully good read. I praise the author for a great piece of fiction.
    • 4/5
      Light hearted and fun. Issy Randall loves to make, so when she is made redundant as an assistant at a real estate firm, she starts a bakery cafe on the outskirts of London. Lovely characters, good friends and an endearing old gramma. Just the thing for a winter evening.